Thanksgiving Stories You’d Rather Laugh About Than Experience

It was Wednesday, the afternoon before Thanksgiving, the first turkey was in the oven as I milled about the kitchen making pies. Thursday the house would be full of people, the air filled with the happy clatter of conversation, plates filled for feasting. But on Wednesday, the house was serenely quiet as I mixed and poured, washed and straightened, so quiet I heard a faint “tch” behind me like someone dropped a set of keys on the counter. No one else was there. I turned around, surveying the counter for anything that may have toppled or settled … nothing was out of place.

Then my glancing eye caught something unusual in the glass of my oven door. The sound I heard, which by now I had almost talked myself out of, was the inside glass on my oven door—cracked like a spider web—turkey still inside.

Panic?

Almost.

Breathing deeply now to calm my racing heart and mind.

Cracked oven glass the day before Thanksgiving = more stress than usual.

Upon close inspection, I could see the glass was still intact, though badly cracked, it was time to improvise and overcome … or call the neighbor to use their oven for a back up plan, which I did. Not knowing if the glass would shatter or break into the oven and ruin food, I covered it with aluminum foil to form a shield, just in case, and tenuously proceeded with the baking still in que.

Brave? Hardly.

Foolish? Maybe.

Risky? Absolutely.

The final judgment could only be determined by the outcome.

The oven and I continued to limp along through two turkeys, rolls, stuffing, and Broccoli-Cauliflower Gratin, but not without a constant nagging in the back of my mind about what I was going to do if my wing and a prayer did start to fall apart. As grateful as I was to have a back up oven just across the street, I didn’t relish the idea of a schlepping dinner through the neighborhood. When I pulled the last item from the oven, a wave of relief swept over me to such an extent I nearly melted in my chair when we sat down to eat. It had been nearly 24 hours since the oven door’s poorly timed protest and Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch.

Thankful? Whew! You bet!

For so many things far more meaningful than a working oven, but this Thanksgiving, I added that one to my list. 😉

Important Update: Recently I have had a number of friends comment about the glass in their oven door cracking after using the self-cleaning option on their stove (you can tell by my photo, that was not my problem). Years ago, when my oven was newer I had used the self-clean feature without any problems, however, from what I understand it can be an issue depending on the model and manufacturer. My advice, check on-line for reported issues before you use your self-clean feature if you haven’t already, just to be safe. **My oven temp was only 425° when it happened, so I’m just chalking it up to normal wear and tear. Thankfully, it only cost $150 for the part and my husband was able to repair it.

And to have a little fun this video was recommended by a reader and it’s too good not to share:

Comments

Judy, congratulations for making it through with that door! I didn’t even know that could happen. I am excited for you if you are shopping for a new oven now. If so, share your impressions of what is out there on the market. Forgive me for the sitcom reference, but if you go to youtube and search “ELR-Debra Drops the Turkey” you will not be sorry. It’s a favorite for me.

Hi Brenda, thanks for the recommended video — I posted it on Face Book to share the laugh. Just recently a few friends had mentioned how their oven glass cracked when they used the self-cleaning feature on their ovens, but my oven was only at 425° when this happened — strange but true. Evidently it is common for it to happen during the cleaning temps, so beware. Fortunately, my husband was able to replace the glass kit in the door, so I didn’t have to get a new oven — besides, I really like my stove, which I have had for 10 years and this is the first issue I have had and it has cooked a lot of food! Thanks again for the funny.

John, my mind raced through every dish I had planned and yes, my heart sank to my toes. And yes, I kept feeling the outside of the oven for heat transfer and it seemed fine, though I worried about the danger the whole time … it was nerve racking. So glad it turned out okay, don’t ever want to do that again!

Oh, my goodness, what and experience! Thank goodness it all ended up alright, and you didn’t loose your cool under all that stress. Oven aside, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.Hannah recently posted..An Edible Mosaic

Yes – cracked glass on the oven door would definitely create a nervous situation. I had a fire in my oven one Thanksgiving. That was pretty scary. So glad you made it through it, got the food cook, and no glass in the turkey!mjskit recently posted..Grits and Green Chile